Memory controller with memory resource memory management

ABSTRACT

In an example implementation according to aspects of the present disclosure, a memory controller is disclosed. The memory controller is communicatively coupleable to a memory resource having a plurality of memory resource regions, which may be associated with a plurality of computing resources. The memory controller may include a memory resource interface to communicatively couple the memory controller to the memory resource and a computing resource interface to communicatively couple the memory controller to the plurality of computing resources. The memory controller may further include a memory resource memory management unit to manage the memory resource.

BACKGROUND

A computing device (e.g., desktop computer, notebook computer, server,cluster of servers, etc.) may incorporate various autonomous computingresources to add functionality to and expand the capabilities of thecomputing device. These autonomous computing resources may be varioustypes of computing resources (e.g., graphics cards, network cards,digital signal processing cards, etc.) that may include computingcomponents such as processing resources, memory resources, managementand control modules, and interfaces, among others. These autonomouscomputing resources may share resources with the computing device andamong one another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following detailed description references the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a computing system including amemory controller communicatively coupleable to a memory resource and toa plurality of computing resources according to examples of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a computing system including aplurality of memory controllers communicatively coupleable to a memoryresource and to a plurality of computing resources according to examplesof the present disclosure; and

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for translating datarequests between a native memory address and a physical memory addressof a memory resource by a memory resource memory management unit of amemory controller according to examples of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A computing device (e.g., desktop computer, notebook computer, server,cluster of servers, etc.) may incorporate autonomous computing resourcesto expand the capabilities of and add functionality to the computingdevice. For example, a computing device may include multiple autonomouscomputing resources that share resources such as memory and memorymanagement (in addition to the autonomous computing resources' nativecomputing components). In such an example, the computing device mayinclude a physical memory, and the autonomous computing resource may beassigned virtual memory spaces within the physical memory of thecomputing device. These computing resources, which may include systemson a chip (SoC) and/or other types of computing resources, that share aphysical memory need memory management services maintained outside ofthe individual memory system address domains native to the computingresource.

In some situations, individual and autonomous compute resources managethe memory address space and memory domain at the physical memory level.However, these computing resources cannot co-exist to share resourceswith other individual and autonomous computing resources in a commonphysical memory domain. Moreover, these computing resources have limitedphysical address bits.

Various implementations are described below by referring to severalexamples of a memory controller. The memory controller iscommunicatively coupleable to a memory resource having a plurality ofmemory resource regions, which may be associated with a plurality ofcomputing resources. The memory controller may include a memory resourceinterface to communicatively couple the memory controller to the memoryresource and a computing resource interface to communicatively couplethe memory controller to the plurality of computing resources. Thememory controller may further include a memory resource memorymanagement unit to manage the memory resource.

In some implementations, the present disclosure provides for managingand allocating physical memory to multiple autonomous compute and I/Oelements in a physical memory system. The present disclosure enables acommodity computing resource to function transparently in the physicalmemory system without the need to change applications and/or operatingsystems. The memory management functions are performed by the memorycontroller of the physical memory system and are in addition to thenative memory management functionality of the computing resources.Moreover, the memory management functions provide computing resourcevirtual address space translation to the physical address space of thephysical memory system. Other address translation may also be performed,such as translation on process ID, user ID, or other computing resourcedependent feature translation. Disclosed examples provide for betterresource allocation, improved security, over subscription, and sharing.These and other advantages will be apparent from the description thatfollows.

FIGS. 1 and 2 include particular components, modules, instructions etc.according to various examples as described herein. In differentimplementations, more, fewer, and/or other components, modules,instructions, arrangements of components/modules/instructions, etc. maybe used according to the teachings described herein. In addition,various components, modules, etc. described herein may be implemented asinstructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium, hardwaremodules, special-purpose hardware (e.g., application specific hardware,application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), embedded controllers,hardwired circuitry, etc.), or some combination or combinations ofthese.

Generally, FIGS. 1 and 2 relate to components and modules of a computingsystem, such as computing system 100 of FIG. 1 and computing system 200of FIG. 2. It should be understood that the computing systems 100 and200 may include any appropriate type of computing system and/orcomputing device, including for example smartphones, tablets, desktops,laptops, workstations, servers, smart monitors, smart televisions,digital signage, scientific instruments, retail point of sale devices,video walls, imaging devices, peripherals, networking equipment, or thelike.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a computing system 100 including amemory controller 120 communicatively coupleable to a memory resource110 and to a plurality of computing resources 150 a, 150 b according toexamples of the present disclosure. The memory controller 120 isresponsible for managing the memory resource 110 and the data read anddata write requests between the memory resource 110 and the computingresources 150 a, 150 b associated with the memory resource 110.

The memory controller 120 may be a general purpose computing resourcethat includes components such as a processing resource, a memoryresource, a storage resource, and the like. In other examples, thememory controller 120 includes dedicated hardware, such as one or moreintegrated circuits, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs),Application Specific Special Processors (ASSPs), Field Programmable GateArrays (FPGAs), or any combination of the foregoing examples ofdedicated hardware, for performing the techniques described herein. Insome implementations, multiple processing resources (or processingresources utilizing multiple processing cores) may be used, asappropriate, along with multiple memory resources and/or types of memoryresources.

Additionally, the memory controller 120 may include a memory resourceinterface 130, a computing resource interface 132, and a memory resourcememory management unit (MMU). In one example, the memory resource MMUdescribed herein may be a combination of hardware and programming. Theprogramming may be processor executable instructions stored on atangible memory resource such as memory resource 110, and the hardwaremay include a processing resource for executing those instructions. Thusmemory resource 110 can be said to store program instructions that whenexecuted by a processing resource implement the modules describedherein. 134. In other examples, the memory controller 120 may includemore or less components/modules/interfaces.

The memory resource interface 130 represents an interface tocommunicatively couple the memory controller 120 and the memory resource110. For example, the memory resource interface 130 may represent avariety of market-specific and/or proprietary interfaces (e.g., copper,photonics, varying types of interposers, through silicon via, etc.) tocommunicatively couple the memory controller 120 and the memory resource110. In examples, switches, routers, and/or other signal directingcomponents may be implemented between the memory resource 110 and thememory resource interface 130 of the memory controller 120.

Similarly, the computing resource interface 132 represents an interfaceto communicatively couple the memory controller 120 and the computingresources 150 a, 150 b. For example, the computing resource interface132 may represent a variety of market-specific and/or proprietaryinterfaces (e.g., copper, photonics, varying types of interposers,through silicon via, etc.) to communicatively couple the memorycontroller 120 and the computing resources 150 a, 150 b. In examples,switches, routers, and/or other signal directing components may beimplemented between the computing resources 150 a, 150 b and thecomputing resource interface 132 of the memory controller 120.

The memory resource memory management unit (MMU) 134 manages the memoryresource region (not shown) of the memory resource 110 associated withthe plurality of computing resources 150 a, 150 b. The MMU 134 may usepage tables containing page table entries as an example for a mapping(translation) database to map virtual address locations to physicaladdress locations of the memory resource 110.

The memory resource MMU 134 may enable data to be read from and data tobe written to the memory resource region of the memory resource 110associated with the computing resources 150 a, 150 b. To do this, thememory resource MMU 134 may perform an address translation to perform amemory address translation to translate between a native memory addresslocation of the computing resources 150 a, 150 b and a physical memoryaddress location of the memory resource 110. For example, if thecomputing resource 150 a desires to read data stored in memory resourceregion associated with the computing resource 150 a, the memory resourceMMU 134 of the memory controller 120 translates a native memory addresslocation to a physical memory address location of the memory resource110 (and being within the memory resource region associated with thecomputing resource 150 a) to retrieve and read the data stored in thememory resource 110. Moreover, in examples, the memory resource MMU 134may utilize a translation lookaside buffer (TLB) to avoid accessing thememory resource 110 each time a virtual address location of thecomputing resources 150 a, 150 b is mapped to a physical addresslocation of the memory resource 110.

In some examples, the memory resource MMU 134 may further include atransaction module and a packet routing module. The transaction modulemanages transactions between the memory resource 110 and the computingresources 150 a, 150 b. For example, the transaction module mayfacilitate the data reads and data writes between the memory controller120 and each of the memory resource 110 and the computing resources 150a, 150 b. The packet routing module routes packets between one of thecomputing resource 150 a, 150 b and an associated region of the memoryresource 110. For example, the packet routing module may route packetsbetween computing resource 150 a and a region of the memory resource 110associated with the computing resource 150 a. However, in such anexample, the packets may not be routed to a region other than the regionof the memory resource associated with the computing resource 150 a.That is, memory resource regions not associated with a particularcomputing resource 150 a, 150 b are inaccessible to the other computingresources 150 a, 150 b. In such an example, a memory region associatedwith computing resource 150 a is inaccessible to computing resource 150b. Likewise, a memory region associated with computing resource 150 b isinaccessible to computing resource 150 a.

In examples, the computing resources 150 a, 150 b may also include aprocessing resource that represents generally any suitable type or formof processing unit or units capable of processing data or interpretingand executing instructions. The processing resource may be one or morecentral processing units (CPUs), microprocessors, and/or other hardwaredevices suitable for retrieval and execution of instructions. Theinstructions may be stored, for example, on a non-transitory tangiblecomputer-readable storage medium, such as memory resource 110, which mayinclude any electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical storagedevice that store executable instructions. Thus, the memory resource 110may be, for example, random access memory (RAM), electrically-erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPPROM), a storage drive, an opticaldisk, and any other suitable type of volatile or non-volatile memorythat stores instructions to cause a programmable processor to performthe techniques described herein. In examples, memory resource 110includes a main memory, such as a RAM in which the instructions may bestored during runtime, and a secondary memory, such as a nonvolatilememory in which a copy of the instructions is stored.

Alternatively or additionally, the computing resources 150 a, 150 b mayinclude dedicated hardware, such as one or more integrated circuits,Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Application SpecificSpecial Processors (ASSPs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), orany combination of the foregoing examples of dedicated hardware, forperforming the techniques described herein. In some implementations,multiple processing resources (or processing resources utilizingmultiple processing cores) may be used, as appropriate, along withmultiple memory resources and/or types of memory resources.

In examples, the computing resources 150 a, 150 b may include a nativememory management unit (MMU) to manage a native memory on the respectivecomputing resource 150 a, 150 b. For example, the native MMU manages anative memory (not shown), such as a cache memory or other suitablememory, on the computing resource 150 a, 150 b. Such a native memory maybe used in conjunction with a processing resource (not shown) on thecomputing resources to store instructions executable by the processingresource on the computing resource 150 a, 150 b. The native MMU cannotmanage the memory resource 110 however.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a computing system 200 including aplurality of memory controllers 220 a, 220 b communicatively coupleableto a memory resource 210 and to a plurality of computing resources 250a, 250 b according to examples of the present disclosure. The memoryresource 210 includes a plurality of memory resource regions 210 a, 210b which are associated with the computing resources 250 a, 250 brespectively. As a result, each of the computing resources 250 a, 250 bmay communicate with their respective memory resource regions 210 a, 250b to read and write data to the memory resource, for example, via one ofthe memory controllers 220 a, 220 b.

The memory controllers 220 a, 250 b are independent, autonomouscomputing resources manage the memory resource 210 and the datatransmissions between each of the computing resources 250 a, 250 b andthe memory resource 210. In examples, the memory controllers 220 a, 220b perform discovery and configuration of the computing system 200components and elements, such as memory resource 210 and computingresources 250 a, 250 b.

In examples, the memory controllers 220 a, 220 b may be a generalpurpose computing resource that includes components such as a processingresource, a memory resource, a storage resource, and the like. In otherexamples, the memory controller 120 includes dedicated hardware, such asone or more integrated circuits, Application Specific IntegratedCircuits (ASICs), Application Specific Special Processors (ASSPs), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), or any combination of the foregoingexamples of dedicated hardware, for performing the techniques describedherein. In some implementations, multiple processing resources (orprocessing resources utilizing multiple processing cores) may be used,as appropriate, along with multiple memory resources and/or types ofmemory resources.

By managing the memory resource 210, the memory controllers 220 a, 20 bmaintain consistency and state of the distributed memory translationunits. The memory controllers 220 a, 220 b also may handle memoryexceptions and errors and provide both hardware fast path fault andexception messaging and complex software paths with logging andpolicies.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, each of the memory controllers 220 a, 220 bmay include memory resource interfaces 230 a, 230 b, computing resourceinterfaces 232 a, 232 b, and memory resource memory management units(MMU) 234 a, 234 b. The memory resource interfaces 230 a, 230 brepresent interfaces to communicatively couple the memory controllers220 a, 220 b and the memory resource 210. For example, the memoryresource interfaces 230 a, 230 b may represent a variety ofmarket-specific and/or proprietary interfaces (e.g., copper, photonics,varying types of interposers, through silicon via, etc.) tocommunicatively couple the memory controllers 220 a, 220 b and thememory resource 210. In examples, switches, routers, and/or other signaldirecting components may be implemented between the memory resource 210and the memory resource interfaces 230 a, 230 b of the memorycontrollers 220 a, 220 b respectively.

Similarly, the computing resource interfaces 232 a, 232 b representinterfaces to communicatively couple the memory controllers 220 a, 220 band the computing resources 250 a, 250 b. For example, the computingresource interfaces 232 a, 232 b may represent a variety ofmarket-specific and/or proprietary interfaces (e.g., copper, photonics,varying types of interposers, through silicon via, etc.) tocommunicatively couple the memory controllers 220 a, 220 b and thecomputing resources 250 a, 250 b. In examples, switches, routers, and/orother signal directing components may be implemented between thecomputing resources 150 a, 150 b and the computing resource interfaces232 a, 232 b of the memory controllers 220 a, 220 b respectively.

The memory resource memory management units (MMUs) 234 a, 234 b managethe memory resource regions of the memory resource 210 associated withthe plurality of computing resources 250 a, 250 b. The memory resourceMMUs 234 may use page tables containing page table entries to mapvirtual address locations to physical address locations of the memoryresource 210. In an example, memory resource MMU 234 a may manage thememory resource region 210 a while memory resource MMU 234 b may managememory resource region 210 b. In examples with additional memoryresource regions, each MMU 234 a, 234 b may be responsible for managingany number of the memory resource regions.

The memory resource MMUs 234 a, 234 b may enable data to be read fromand data to be written to the memory resource region of the memoryresource 210 associated with the computing resources 250 a, 250 b. To dothis, the memory resource MMUs 234 a, 234 b may perform an addresstranslation to perform a memory address translation to translate betweena native memory address location of the computing resources 250 a, 250 band a physical memory address location of the memory resource 210. Forexample, if the computing resource 250 a desires to read data stored inmemory resource region associated with the computing resource 250 a, thememory resource MMU 234 a of the memory controller 220 a translates anative memory address location to a physical memory address location ofthe memory resource 210 (and being within the memory resource regionassociated with the computing resource 250 a) to retrieve and read thedata stored in the memory resource 210. Moreover, in examples, thememory resource MMUs 234 a, 234 b may utilize a translation lookasidebuffer (TLB) to avoid accessing the memory resource 210 each time avirtual address location of the computing resources 250 a, 250 b ismapped to a physical address location of the memory resource 210. Inexamples, memory resource regions not associated with a particularcomputing resource are inaccessible to the other computing resources.

The computing resources 250 a, 250 b may be similar to the computingresources 150 a, 150 b of FIG. 1. For example, the computing resources250 a, 250 b may include a processing resource to execute instructionson the computing resources 250 a, 250 b and to read data from and writedata to a memory resource region of the memory resource associated withthe computing resource 250 a, 250 b. The data reading and writing isperformed through or via at least one of the memory controllers 120 a,250 b. Additionally, the computing resources 250 a, 250 b may include anative memory management unit to manage a native memory on the computingresources 250 a, 250 b. It should be appreciated that the computingresources 250 a, 250 b may be configured differently from one another.

In examples, the computing resources 250 a, 250 b may be communicativelycoupleable to the memory controllers 220 a, 220 b in a meshconfiguration. That is, the computing resources 250 a, 250 b may bearranged such that each computing resource 250 a, 250 b iscommunicatively coupleable to each of the memory controllers 220 a, 250b. Computing resource 250 a is communicatively coupleable to both memorycontroller 220 a and memory controller 220 b. Likewise, computingresource 250 b is communicatively coupleable to both memory controller220 a and memory controller 220 b. In this way, the computing system 200is provided with redundant memory controllers 220 a, 220 b for thecomputing resources 250 a, 250 b. In other examples, other topologyarrangements are possible in addition to mesh arrangements, such aspoint-to-point, bus, star, ring, tree, daisy chain, and hybridarrangements, including combinations thereof.

In particular, FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 300 fortranslating data requests between a native memory address and a physicalmemory address of a memory resource by a memory resource memorymanagement unit of a memory controller according to examples of thepresent disclosure. The method 300 may be stored as instructions on anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium such as memory resource110 of FIG. 1, for example, or another suitable memory such as memoryresource 210 of FIG. 2 that, when executed by a processing resource,cause the processing resource to perform the method 300, It should beappreciated that the method 300 may be executed by a computing system ora computing device such as computing system 100 of FIG. 1 and/orcomputing system 200 of FIG. 2.

At block 302, the method 300 begins and continues to block 304. At block304, the method 300 includes receiving, through a computing resourceinterface of a memory controller (e.g., computing resource interface 132of memory controller 120 of FIG. 1), at least one of a data read requestto read data from a memory resource communicatively coupleable to thememory controller and a data write request to write data to the memoryresource. The method 300 continues to block 306.

At block 306, the method 300 includes translating, by a memory resourcememory management unit of the memory controller (e.g., memory resourceMMU 134 of memory controller 120 of FIG. 1), the at least one of thedata read request and the data write request between a native memoryaddress location of the computing resource and a physical memory addresslocation of the memory resource. In examples, the physical memoryaddress location is located in a region of the memory resourceassociated with the computing resource. For example, in FIG. 2, thephysical memory address location may be in memory resource region 210 bif the memory resource region 210 b is associated with computingresource 250 b, Additionally, the native memory address location may beat least one of a native physical address location and a native virtualmemory address location. The method 300 continues to block 308.

At block 308, the method 300 includes performing, by the computingresource (e.g., memory controller 120 of FIG, 1), the at least one ofthe data read request and the data write request. The method 300continues to block 310 and terminates.

Additional processes also may be included, and it should be understoodthat the processes depicted in FIG. 3 represent illustrations, and thatother processes may be added or existing processes may be removed,modified, or rearranged without departing from the scope and spirit ofthe present disclosure.

It should be emphasized that the above-described examples are merelypossible examples of implementations and set forth for a clearunderstanding of the present disclosure. Many variations andmodifications may be made to the above-described examples withoutdeparting substantially from the spirit and principles of the presentdisclosure. Further, the scope of the present disclosure is intended tocover any and all appropriate combinations and sub-combinations of allelements, features, and aspects discussed above. All such appropriatemodifications and variations are intended to be included within thescope of the present disclosure, and all possible claims to individualaspects or combinations of elements or steps are intended to besupported by the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A memory controller communicatively coupleable toa memory resource having a plurality of memory resource regions beingassociated with a plurality of computing resources, the memorycontroller comprising: a memory resource interface to communicativelycouple the memory controller to the memory resource; a computingresource interface to communicatively couple the memory controller tothe plurality of computing resources; and a memory resource memorymanagement unit to manage the memory resource.
 2. The memory controllerof claim 1, wherein the memory resource memory management unit furthercomprises: a transaction module to manage transactions between thememory resource and the plurality of computing resources; and a packetrouting module to route packets between an appropriate one of theplurality of computing resources and a respective one of the pluralityof memory resource regions associated with the appropriate one of theplurality of computing resources.
 3. The memory controller of claim 1,wherein memory resource regions not associated with a particularcomputing resource are inaccessible to the other computing resources. 4.The memory controller of claim 1, wherein the computing resource isselected from the group consisting of at least one of a system on achip, a field-programmable gate array, a digital signal processing unit,and a graphic processing unit.
 5. The memory controller of claim 1,wherein the memory resource memory management unit performs a memoryaddress translation between a native memory address location of thecomputing resource and a physical memory address location of the memoryresource.
 6. The memory controller of claim 1, wherein at least one ofthe plurality of computing resources further comprises: a native memorymanagement unit to manage a native memory on the computing resource. 7.The memory controller of claim 6, wherein the at least one of theplurality of computing resources further comprises: a processingresource to execute instructions on the computing resource and to readdata from and write data to the memory resource region of the memoryresource associated with the computing resource via at least one of theplurality of memory controllers.
 8. A computing system comprising: amemory resource further comprising a plurality of memory resourceregions; a plurality of computing resources, each of the plurality ofcomputing resources being associated with one of the plurality of memoryresource regions of the memory resource; and a plurality of memorycontrollers, each memory controller further comprising: a memoryresource interface to communicatively couple the memory controller tothe memory resource, a computing resource interface to communicativelycouple the memory controller to the plurality of computing resources,and a memory resource memory management unit to manage the memoryresource region of the memory resource associated with each of theplurality of computing resources.
 9. The computing system of claims 8,wherein at least one of the plurality of computing resources furthercomprises: a native memory management unit to manage a native memory onthe computing resource; and a processing resource to executeinstructions on the computing resource and to read data from and writedata to the memory resource region of the memory resource associatedwith the computing resource via at least one of the plurality of memorycontrollers.
 10. The computing system of claim 8, wherein the memoryresource memory management unit performs a memory address translationbetween a native memory address location of the computing resource and aphysical memory address location of the memory resource.
 11. Thecomputing system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of memory controllersand the plurality of computing resources are communicatively coupleablein a mesh configuration.
 12. The computing system of claim 8, whereinmemory resource regions not associated with a particular computingresource are inaccessible to the other computing resources.
 13. A methodcomprising: receiving, through a computing resource interface of amemory controller, at least one of a data read request to read data froma memory resource communicatively coupleable to the memory controllerand a data write request to write data to the memory resource;translating, by a memory resource memory management unit of the memorycontroller, the at least one of the data read request and the data writerequest between a native memory address location of the computingresource and a physical memory address location of the memory resource;and performing, by the computing resource, the at least one of the dataread request and the data write request.
 14. The method of claim 13,wherein the physical memory address location is located in a region ofthe memory resource associated with the computing resource.
 15. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the native memory address location is atleast one of a native physical address location and a native virtualmemory address location.